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Tag Archives: Dracula

We all have little idiosyncrasies, don’t we? I’ll tell you one of mine in just a minute.

The weather took a nice shift towards fall today. I even used my new umbrella. Lovely.

I also found time to relax with a book in the middle of the day. I don’t often do that. Most of my reading is in the evening, but today I was compelled to read the final chapter in an excellent mystery.

Earlier this summer I discovered a series, published by author Milly Reynolds, a British crime and general fiction author. Milly writes The Mike Malone Mysteries and I have become an avid follower and reader. A fan, really.

Today I finished the sixth in the series of Kindle books, “IOU,” featuring the crime solving Detective Inspector Mike Malone and his young assistant Detective Sergeant Alan Shepherd. In this series, Detective Inspector Malone has a difficult past necessitating a move to the Lincolnshire countryside where his story continues to unfold cleverly and intricately interwoven within the crime he is called upon to solve. Now that I’m caught up with the Mike Malone mysteries, I’m eager to move on to meet another of Milly Reynolds’ crime sleuths, Detective Inspector Jack Sallt. But that introduction will have to wait just a bit.

I’ll share my little idiosyncrasy now. It’s a slight compulsion I’ve given in to for as long as I remember. When I get to the last chapter in a book I’m reading, I need want to choose what I will read next and have it sitting nearby and ready for me to crack the cover. I never wait until I have finished a book to make that decision. So as I closed out the last chapter of “IOU” I had many book options from which to choose my next good read, but I had my title already at my side.

I made that decision first thing in the morning.

Do you pay attention to Doodles? Doodles are the artful changes made to the Google logo in celebration of the lives of artists and scientists, noting holidays, or highlighting anniversaries and current events. The Doodle is part of the Google search page. Checking the Doodles is one of the first things I do when I turn on my computer.

Today’s Doodle was particularly elaborate, celebrating Bram Stoker’s 165th birthday. So what do you think I plan to read next? Dracula? No, I’ve read that before, and if you haven’t, in my opinion you’ve missed the best vampire story yet written.

Irish novelist and short story writer Abraham Stoker was born November 8, 1847 and made a living as a stage manager and personal assistant to an actor. Dracula was originally called The Un-Dead and was written in 1897.

All Bram Stokers’ works are now available free of charge throughProject Gutenberg. If you’re not familiar with Project Gutenberg you’ll have fun browsing the titles of all the books that are no longer held to copyright protection. I downloaded The Complete Works of Bram Stoker about a year ago, and today’s Google Doodle reminded me that it was already on my Kindle. So next I’m on to reading Bram Stoker’s The Lair of the White Worm. I doubt it holds the same mystique as Dracula, but the plot involves a snake-like creature with green glowing eyes feeding on whatever is thrown into a pit…you get the idea. I’ll have to see what I think of a horror story published in 1911. I’m definitely curious.

It’s interesting to follow the stories connected to clever logo artwork! To see an entire list of doodles click here.I love the Olympic Doodle. And it was great they published a beautiful Doodle specifically for my birthday. Well, technically it was the first day of spring, but I took personal notice. Google Doodles are international so there’s something for everyone. And if you happen to have any questions about any of the people, places or events connected to the Doodle, the good thing is you can learn all you need to know–just Google it!